Dear host family, First, I want to thank you deeply for hosting me. I feel extremely grateful to have the opportunity to live with you and to get to know you, your culture, and your lifestyle. I have always dreamed about living abroad, and now that my dream is about to come true, I will put myself into it to have the best experience ever. I will do my best to grow personally, to express my feelings and emotions, and to create a long-lasting bond with you. My family is made up of my parents, my brother and me. My mum, Silvana, is the most empathetic, helpful, and caring person I know. She puts others before herself and is a great listener. My dad, Cesare, is more practical and pragmatic. He’s passionate about culture, in particular history and art. When I have a question, he’s always ready to answer. I think I sometimes have too many things in common with him and we tend to fight over silly things. I don’t always say it, but I’m very lucky to have them. As a family, we love to travel together, and we visited many countries around Europe. I can’t wait to start my journey with my host family, just like my brother did in Ireland. My brother, Giovanni, is attending the first year of economy university. He’s cheerful and sweet. We also have a cat, Lola, that we found abandoned on the street two years ago. She has brought absolute joy to the whole family! I have three cousins that I consider my siblings. Two of them live in Spain and the other in Greece. We get to see each other only twice a year, but when we do, it’s like we have never been apart. We often go on vacation together, so every place we visit holds a place in my heart, especially our grandparents’ house. With one of them, Alessandro, I went on a summer vacation this past July in London. It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and I can’t wait to tell you more about it! What about you? Do you like travelling? What are your favourite places you have visited? I consider myself a determined, eager to learn, and reliable person. I always try my best to achieve my goals, and I work hard on everything I do. I love to learn more about different traditions, cultures, and opinions, and I can’t wait to chat with you. I also consider myself to be a calm and kind person, and I hope to gain your trust. I have always been a bit shy, but I’m sure that this experience will help me improving this side of my personality. I believe the most challenging part of this program for me would be not being able to make friends. My parents believe I tend to appear a bit detached, and I want to show others that I am not. My friends consider me funny, and I love to make them laugh (I’m very good at it). Hope I’ll make you laugh as well! I love playing any kind of sport. I have been practicing artistic gymnastics for almost ten years now, and I could never get tired of it. It has taught me to be brave and willing to try new things. With my gymnastic team I’ve created a special bond. I know I can always count on them and that our relationship will continue in the future. Beside gymnastics, I also enjoy volleyball, that I used to play when I was very young. During my exchange semester I can’t wait to try as many sports and activities as possible. What kind of sports do you enjoy playing or watching? Are you big sport fans? I also love music. Beside listening to it, I would love to play it. I have played the guitar for a year but then I quit. During this journey, I would like to learn to play the piano, since it has been a dream of mine for quite some time now, but I don’t have much free time during the day here to play it. Here in Italy, I’m always quite busy. My school is really demanding. We study Italian literature, history, philosophy, but also Latin and ancient Greek, and many other subjects. I practise gymnastic three to four times a week. On weekends I hang out with my friends’ group: we go to the city centre, to the movie theatre, or to visit small cities around ours. I know my life in the States will be different, as I will attend a different school and practice different activities. I will do my best to organize my day, so that I will have time to spend with my host family and friends! I hope to hear from you soon, and I can’t wait to meet you. I hope you will enjoy having me with you! I’m looking forward to starting this incredible journey together. Thank you, Elena